Spatial distribution of surface forest fuel in the Slovak Republic

Forest fires represent a real danger not only for countries situated in the tropic and subtropic zones, but the fire danger is more and more actual also in moderate climate zones, particularly due to continuous climate change consequences. Forest fire prevention and fire mitigation measures were both developed in the Slovak Republic to cope with this problem. Some have been included in effective legislation. Fire behaviour modelling is a forest fire mitigation measure. Information on surface forest fuel spatial distribution, fuel height and volume are the necessary prerequisites for the fire behaviour modelling process. In this paper, we introduce the methodology and results of surface forest fuel spatial distribution mapping in the Slovak Republic. The results are introduced in both tabular and map form.